


Monster & The Monsters

by TheBashfulPoet



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: AFTG Valentine's Exchange 2019, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 12:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17787173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBashfulPoet/pseuds/TheBashfulPoet
Summary: Prompt: Andrew & Neil get a dogAKA four times Andrew says they can’t have a dog and One time he doesFor AftgExchange's Valentine's exchange





	Monster & The Monsters

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Talls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talls/gifts).



> Happy Valentines Talls!
> 
> When I saw your prompt for Andreil with a dog I just HAD to do it! Hope you enjoy the fic!
> 
> [Edit 9/2/16] I have finally gone through this and gave it the comb through it clearly needed. Note to self, don't do edits late in the night

#  **1\. It followed me home, I swear**

            Andrew wouldn’t call himself a patient person. After all, what has patience ever taught him but disappointment time and time again? So no, Andrew was not _patient_ , but he could maybe be considered tolerant. Or at least tolerant to certain idiocies.

            He was tolerant of Nicky’s tendency towards dramatics. He was tolerant of his brother’s piss poor attitude towards Neil. He was tolerant of Kevin’s nagging about his diet. He was tolerant of his junkie’s obsession with Exy and the annoying bunch of nosy misfits he surrounds himself with. Hell, he was the fucking _patron saint_ of tolerance when that same junkie nearly killed them all with his lies while nearly igniting a fucking _mob war_ at the same time.

            But this? This was too much.

            “No.”

            “But-” Neil starts.

            “I said no.”

            “If you would just listen-”

            “We aren’t keeping a stray dog, Neil.”

            It started like this. They were all at Columbia for a summer break of Andrew’s junior year (Nicky not yet off to Germany for the summer and Kevin tagging along with the twins to escape his father for a few months and hoping to drag Neil to practice) and Neil had gotten up at some ungodly hour for a run. Normally this wouldn’t be cause for issue, Andrew having long since acclimated to turning back over and sleeping for a couple more hours when Neil inevitable wakes him up. If this was a typical day, Neil would run until he tired himself out in an hour or two and then would come back to bribe Andrew out of bed with coffee and breakfast.

            Really he should have known something was up when he woke to an empty room without a hint of coffee or Neil despite his phone telling him that it was later than Neil’s runs normally lasted. Still, not thinking much of it (after all his junkie was known to get lost in his head from time to time) Andrew simply swung his legs from the bed and decided to make his own coffee. What he sees when he walks downstairs has him thinking that he should have stayed in bed.

            First, he spots Neil on the kitchen floor next to the fridge, the image itself odd but not overly worrying. And then Andrew’s eyes fell onto the mangy ball of fur resting contently in his lap. He blinks once, twice, but the image doesn’t change.

            “What the fuck is that?”

            At the sound of his voice, Neil looks up at him and has the gall to smile like he _hasn’t_ probably infested the whole house with fleas. “Oh, you’re up. I didn’t manage to get breakfast this morning. I got… distracted.”

            “Is that what we’re calling it now? Because it looks like to me that you brought back a stray animal.”

            “I didn’t bring it back, it _followed_ me home.”

            “And your first thought was to bring it inside?”

            Neil pouts — honest to fucking god _pouts_. Andrew would think it amusing if it weren’t directed at him for questioning why there was _a stay animal in his house_. “But it’s cold outside and it's hungry.”

            “Not my problem. Take it back out.”

            “But-”

            “No.”

            They circle around like this long enough that the animal in question opens its eyes and stares at Andrew. Andrew stares back. They engage in a battle of wills before it ~~concedes defeat~~ blinks at him and lolls its tongue out of its mouth. It’s disgustingly adorable. Neil runs a hand over its matted fur in a gentle stroke that pulls its attention from Andrew entirely.

            “Hey there girl, finally up from your nap?” Neil murmurs softly and the dog clampers up Neil’s chest to lick at his chin, making him laugh and dig his fingers in tighter.

            The sight is almost enough to make Andrew’s stomach flip. Almost. “We’re not keeping a dog. Period.”

            Now Neil frowns, “Fine, but at least let me give her a bath and some food.”

            “And why should I?”

            “Other than you don’t control my every action?”

            Andrew waits out Neil’s ire with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

            Neil sighs, “Because I know what it’s like to be cold and hungry Andrew.”

            His fingers tighten around the animal as it buries into Neil’s neck with a content sigh and a couple of chin licks. And really, what is Andrew supposed to say to that?

            “Okay. One bath and a bowl of food and then it goes out with no argument.” Neil beams at him but Andrew is already turning away to go back to bed. “And you’re making breakfast. Pancakes _and_ bacon.”

            “We have neither of those things to make,” Neil calls out at his retreating form.

            “Not my problem.” Andrew slams the door closed and decides he’s earned another hour of sleep.

#  **2\. Table set for one more**

            That extra hour of sleep turned out to be a mistake because the next time Andrew woke up, everyone was up and surrounding Neil’s stray. Nicky crouched down in front of the dog with a hand outstretched for it to sniff and a gleeful gleam in his eyes. At first, it seemed shy, pressing itself to close to Neil’s legs as he flipped pancakes on the stove, but after a few seconds, it creeps forward and gives Nicky’s knuckles a tentative sniff and a quick lick.

            Nicky squeals, “Oh my god! You are absolutely the most precious thing in this world!”

            The noise startles the dog back as it ducks behind Neil’s legs. Neil buckles slightly but just moves back a half-step in accommodation for the small form between him and the stove. “Back off Nicky. You’re scaring her.”

            “Aw, don’t say that! She loves me, did you see that lick?”

            “Yeah, that’s why she’s avoiding you like the plague now.” Aaron remarks from beside the coffee pot.

            “Shut up, you’re just jealous she won’t come near you at all.”

            “Like I care about some flea-bitten mutt. She can stay near Josten for all I care.”

            “She doesn’t have fleas. I checked when I gave her a bath.”

            “She definitely has fleas.”

            Neil bares his teeth in a parody of a smile. “Keep saying that and you can make your own breakfast.”

            “Yeah Aaron,” Nicky teases, “It’s rude to insult someone’s pet.”

            “She’s not my pet,” Neil points out.

            “Not yet,” Nicky winks.

            Andrew decides that he’s let this conversation go on long enough. “We’re not keeping the dog, I won’t say it again.”

            Neil tenses but cleverly says nothing. Nicky’s isn’t as smart. “Aw, but Andrew how could you say no to keeping a face like that?!”

            He waves down a hand at the dog who peeks its head from Neil’s legs to look up him. Andrew has to admit, a bath did wonders for the mangey ball of fur. It washed away the clumps of dirty that matted its fur and revealed a honey brown coat with patches of white and black.  It didn’t look more than a few months old, limbs awkward and long with giant paws for its scrawny body (a sign sure enough that the dog would be massive when it grew up). If he had to guess at its breed, he’d say some sort of German Shepard mix. But by far its most interesting feature was its face that was split almost evenly down the middle with its left side completely black with a brown ear and the right side a light tan with black spots and a black ear. The only similar feature on both sides were the golden eyes staring back at him.

            Still, Andrew already made his stance clear.

            “Easy, like this.” He crouches down and looks the dog square in the eyes. “No.”

            Nicky clutches his chest, “ _You animal_.”

            Andrew gives him a blank stare. “No, that’s an animal. One we’re _not_ keeping. As soon as Neil feeds the thing, it’s going back outside where it belongs.”

            Nicky sniffs and starts muttering about how he could have raised such a heartless human while even Aaron looks surprised with his uncaring attitude. The only ones who give no reaction are Kevin, who is face down on the island and Neil that remains suspiciously quiet for the person who inflicted the animal on them.

            After a few moments, he slides the last of the pancakes onto a plate and turns off the burner.  “Breakfast is ready.”

            He picks up the plate along with the one filled with bacon another of eggs, before starting moving toward the kitchen table that someone had set up. The dog follows Neil without a sound, tail wagging happily at the prospect of food.

            Breakfast is a tense affair. Where normally the table would be full of inane chatter and gossip (mostly from Nicky) the thought of kicking out the dog once the meal is done hangs over everyone’s minds as they pick at the food. They only ones unaffected are, Andrew, who could care less about their moping, and the dog that just greedily munches on the bit of eggs and bacon Neil put on a plate for it. Andrew doesn’t miss the small smile that tugs on Neil’s lip when it finishes its food and starts nosing around Neil for more. He also doesn’t miss how Neil slides it some of the bacon off his plate. Nicky isn’t as subtle.

            Eventually, their plates empty and they all sit in silence, waiting for the inevitable. The dog rests in Neil’s lap, content with a full belly and napping away without a care in the world. Nicky almost tears up as he snaps a couple of pictures on his phone. Andrew waits until the seventh picture before he pushes his plate away and opens his mouth to get this over with when-

            A loud crash of thunder booms outside the house and makes them jump. Andrew’s head whips towards the nearest window and sure enough, a storm had opened outside and rain poured down relentlessly. The house is dead silent beside the wet smack of rain against the roof. Neil looks at him with an eyebrow arched and a too smug look on his face.

            “Fine,” he growls. “After it stops raining _then_ it’s out. Even if I have to drag it out myself.”

            Nicky has the gall to fucking cheer.

#  **3\. We’re not naming the dog**

            They’re all in the living room watching a movie while it continuously pours outside. Well, _Andrew_ was watching the movie, everyone else apparently was too busy paying attention to the damn dog. Neil had sat on the ground by Andrew’s feet (pressed ever so slightly as if to say _I’m here_ but not crowding him) as he places the dog on the floor next to him. Of course, Nicky joined them, sitting across from Neil and cooing ridiculously at the dog in hopes of coaxing it over to him. After a few gentle nudges from Neil, it wanders over to Nicky and sniffs him cautiously. Nicky seems to have learned his lesson from last time and remains quiet as it quickly circles him. His patience earns him a couple of licks before it wanders back to Neil and tries to clamper on him like he was a playground.

            Nicky doesn’t even care that he’d been abandoned, simply looking smug at Aaron on the couch. “See I told you that it’s just you.”

            Aaron scoffs but glares at the dog like it personally offended him. Somehow this turns into a competition on who can get the mutt’s attention the most. Nicky disqualifies Neil when it becomes apparent that if he would so much as hold out his hand the dog would come scrambling. Eventually, the excitement of the game riles up the dog until it bounces around the room circling everyone despite Nicky’s whistles and calls.

            “Urgh, this isn’t working! She needs a name,” he whines.

            “We’re not giving the dog a name,” Andrew shuts down quickly.

            “But why not? She needs a name so I can win this!”

            Neil snorts, “I’m not sure a couple of licks could be called winning it.”

            “Shush, Neil. You’re just mad because I’m slowly replacing you as the favorite.”

            Neil raises an eyebrow and pats his leg once while staring directly at Nicky. The dog stops its circling and dashes to Neil. “You were saying?”

            The noise Nicky makes is unholy. “See! This is why she needs a name! How else can I call her out for the sheer betrayal I feel??”

            “We’re not naming the damn dog.”

            “Why!”

            “because you name things you keep and we’re not keeping the dog.”

            “Well, we can’t just keep calling her _dog_. That’s just cruel, Andrew.”

            “That’s what she _is_ , Nicky.”

            “Would you name a child boy? No, that’s just stupid. We’re naming the dog.”

            Andrew arches a brow, “Oh, are we?”

            To his credit, Nicky only looks mildly shaken.  “Y-yes. We are.”

            Andrew is almost impressed by the show of backbone. He opens his mouth when Neil speaks up, cutting their argument off.

            “You name her then.”

            “Excuse me?” Andrew turns to Neil who is already looking up at him.

            “You heard Nicky, he’s going to name her regardless of what you say. You might as well give her one so we’re not all stuck with something ridiculous.”

            “Hey!” Nicky squawks indignantly.

            They ignore him.

            “And if I don’t?”

            Neil shrugs, “Then Nicky does.”

            Andrew glares at him but Neil returns the glare with a blank look. He has a point and Neil _knows_ it, but instead of smugly gloating like he had earlier with the rain he waits patiently for Andrew to decide how this will go.

            “Fine,” he grounds out. Neil nods his acceptance and turns away.

            Andrew looks at the dog wiggling in Neil’s lap as it tries to scramble over Neil’s shoulders for a look at Andrew. For a moment he debates naming it dog or mutt when its tongue lolls out again, this time accompanied by the points of its canines.

            “Monster,” he decides.

            Nicky groans, “ _Monster?_ Look at that face! She’s too adorable to have such a scary name like Monster.”

            Andrew shrugs, “It seems to cause enough terror in my life.”

             “I like it,” Neil cuts Nicky off when he starts protesting, wrapping an arm around the dogs bottom to give it a boost to look over his shoulder fully. It licks at his cheek happily and snuffs at his curls. “She’s the monsters’ Monster.”

            Andrew scoffs. “110%”

            Nicky squeal, “Oh that’s perfect! I take back what I said. We can call her Lady Monster! Or Monster Pup! My vote is for Monster Pup.”

            “Just Monster,” Andrew cuts in.

            Nicky pouts but wisely accepts the answer. Instead, he starts enthusiastically patting his knees. “Come here Monster! Come to Nicky!”

            Monster looks at Nicky, tilting her head in confusion, but staying in Neil’s arms before turning back towards Andrew.

            “I’m not the one calling you,” he tells her.

            She lolls out a tongue.

            “111%”

#  **4\. A bed big enough for… three?**

            It doesn’t stop raining all fucking weekend. It’s like the sky opened up and released a downpour made up of every droplet of moisture the world had until it formed into a steady never-ending stream If Andrew believed in some divine power, he’d think they had something against him. How else would you explain the fact that his boyfriend had been stolen by a _dog_?

            It went like this. The rain didn’t let up no matter how late they stayed awake and Andrew decided somewhere after midnight that enough was enough and headed for bed. He just finished getting undressed and crawled under the sheets when the door opens, and Neil slips in shutting it softly behind him. Andrew is happy to note that he is sans dog.

            Nodding his approval, he scoots back into the bed until his back hits the wall and hold the sheet open for Neil to join. Shucking his pants and socks aside, Neil slides into the bed and settles himself beside Andrew, only the slightest of gaps between them. But Andrew has long since admitted to himself that he sleeps better with Neil’s heartbeat under his palm (a by-product of almost losing him one too many times) to leave that gap uncrossed. He lays his palm on the back of Neil’s neck and drags their faces together in a light kiss. He doesn’t miss the way Neil melts and molds perfectly into his side, deepening the kiss.

            Andrew lets himself get lost in the low press of lips until he feels something settle in his chest and break away, shifting Neil around so he can curl protectively around his back and drift off to sleep. Or at least that was the plan. It seems the dog had different ideas.

            Just as they settled into a position and slowly started drifting off, they hear a soft whine on the other side of the door followed by scratches. Determined to ignore it, Andrew buries his face deep into Neil’s back, but the whining only grows louder and more insistent until the thing is _howling_ at the door.

            Andrew shoves Neil out of the bed. “Make it stop.”

            Neil curses at him in what he thinks is French before getting up and moving towards the door. The moment he opens it, Monster dashes in and circles Neil’s legs in excitement, sniffing and yipping in joy. He bends down to pick her up, looking for the cause of the whining before poking his head into the hall.

            “What’s the matter, girl?”

            “Who cares,” Andrew grumbles from the bed. “Put her back out and close the door.”

            Neil shrugs and goes to do just that but the moment he sets her down, the whining starts back up and she paws at his legs. He picks her back up.

            “I think she’s lonely.”

            Andrew gives him the blankest stare he can muster hoping it conveys how little Andrew cares about that. “She is not sleeping with us.”

            “Well then what am I supposed to do?”

            “Give her to Nicky.”

            “She _was_ with Nicky.”

            Andrew sighs, contemplating where he went wrong in his life that he was arguing about a fucking dog in the middle of the night.  “I don’t care what you do as long as it shuts up so I can sleep in my bed without worrying of whining and fleas.”

            “She doesn’t have fleas,” Neil retorts.

            Andrew levels him with a glare. “Figure it out, Neil.”

            He turns over in bed and lets the blankets settle around him. Even though they both know he wouldn’t fall asleep without his back to the wall or covered by Neil. Wisely, he takes it for the warning it is and murmurs to Monster that they’ll sleep in the living room. Andrew listens to the quiet snick of the door shutting and the soft sound of Neil’s steps on the stairs before rolling onto his back and glaring at the ceiling.

            “Fucking dog.”

            He closes his eyes and resolves to get rid of the mutt first thing in the morning. Only the rain continues and so does the whining. After the third night, Neil doesn’t even bother trying to sleep in the room anymore, resolving himself to sleeping on the couch for the foreseeable future.

            It’s fine. Andrew doesn’t care if Neil’s in his bed or not — especially when he’s choosing a lumpy couch instead of their plush bed for a _fucking dog_. It just proves how much of a moron he really is. _It’s fine_.

            Until it isn’t.

            On the fourth night of consecutive rain Andrew wakes up from the thrall of a nightmare to an empty room and no Neil by his side and it’s just _wrong_. His fingers clench at empty sheets cool from the night air when they should have pressed warm scarred flesh.  He stumbles from the bed, fighting the tangle of sheets on his legs as he starts searching for Neil. The empty room starts bleeding into the visions of his nightmare. Into an empty locker room splattered in blood. Into an empty bus seat. Into a chaos filled parking lot with a horde of people but not one of them with a head full of auburn hair and striking blue eyes. He throws the door open, not caring that it slams against the wall hard enough to jolt the whole house and wake his family. All he cares about is finding Neil and making sure he’s in his hands and not someone else’s. (because when that happens more scars join the rest and Neil already has a too impressive collection.)

            He takes the stairs two at a time before his feet crash against the wood floor and he collides into another person. At first, all he sees is hands coming towards him and he lashes out before the sound of his name in that familiar voice breaks through the cloud in his mind.

            “Andrew, it’s me,” Neil calls out gently. “It’s Neil.”

            “Neil.” His hands shoot out to grab a hold of him, finger probably too rough and bruising but the need to feel the heat of him too much to ignore right now. The need to feel that steady pulse too strong.

            “I’m here,” Neil murmurs, slowly moving his wrist so Andrew’s finger rests on his pulse (always knowing what Andrew needs even if he says nothing). “I’m alive and in front of you. No one took me.”

            Andrew tightens his grip, knowing that Neil will probably have a ring of bruises around it in the morning but not caring as the steady pulse soothes the tension in his body little by little. After a minute or two, his shoulders drop. Several more and the tightness in his chest loosens enough for him to breathe. Neil waits him out like always.

            “Okay?” He askes when Andrew lets his fingers drop to his (calm enough not to need Neil’s pulse, but too raw to let go entirely).

            “Yes.”

            Neil hums and lifts a hand up near Andrew’s hair. “Yes or no?”

            “Yes.”

            He tangles his fingers into the small tufts of hair sticking out at the side of his head and slowly drags them through. After a moment he rests his forehead against Neil’s.

            “Nightmare?” Neil asks.

            “Binghamton. You didn’t come back.”

            Neil nods softly, not saying a word. Andrew slides a hand onto the back of his neck and just breathes, letting the feel of Neil’s breath fan across his face and the flutter of his eyelashes on his cheek mix together with the steady thump of his pulse under his hand. After a moment Andrew pulls away.

            Neil lets him without any resistance, letting his fingers fall away to his sides. “Go back to sleep, yeah? You should still have a few more hours left before the sun rises.”

            Andrew nods and Neil turns to go back towards the couch where a bundle of blankets and pillows lay crumpled on either end. He grabs Neil’s sleeve before he can get too far. “No.”

            This gets him an arched eyebrow in response followed by a look at Monster waiting patiently by their feet. Andrew tightens his grip. “No.”

            He needed Neil where he could touch him tonight, dog be damned.

            “Okay,” Neil whispers, moving his free hand to tangle with Andrew’s as he tugs him in the direction of the stairs. Andrew lets him lead the way without a word.

            When they reach his room, Neil goes in first, leaving Andrew to decide what to do about Monster trailing at their heels. At first, Andrew debates shooing the dog out and closing the door, but he doesn’t have the energy to put up with the fight she’s no doubt going to give him. Instead, he closes the door behind her and crawls into the bed, pulling Neil securely into his chest.

            “Just for tonight,” he murmurs into Neil’s neck.

            Neil hums and links their fingers together where they rest on his abdomen. “’Kay, Drew.”

            “I’m serious.”

            “I know.”

            “Damn dog in the bed,” he grumbles but he’s not sure it comes out more than a grunt as he lets the lull of sleep pull him into unconsciousness.

            When he wakes next, the sun peeks in through the window coating the bed in warmth. He feels the rise and fall of Neil’s chest under his fingers and the tickle of hair under his chin. Andrew tightens his grip ever so slightly before shifting to curl around him more. The movement causes something to stir by his feet and when he lifts his head to check, Monster blinks up at him from the foot of the bed.

            If anyone asked him, Andrew would say he was too tired and comfortable to do anything about the dog right then — that sleep sounded better than moving (especially with a pliant Neil in his arms). But the truth of the matter was, the weight of her small body was something entirely new and different and Andrew couldn’t bring himself to mind it. When he slipped back into sleep, he pretended not to notice Monster cuddling closer into the crook of his knees.

#  **+1 Fine we can keep the damn dog**

            Andrew wakes up to the familiar jostling of sheets and that accompany Neil getting up for the day. He listens as he stretches out his arms and back, hearing the pop of his spine realigning and the soft groan that follows. Next, he listens for the rustling of clothes ad Neil dresses for a run, but instead, he hears the softest woof and feels paws scrambling over his legs.

            “Oh hello,” Neil softly coos, lifting Monster over him as if to prevent her from waking him up. “Would you like to go for a run with me? Maybe we can even find a shelter open this early to take you in.”

            Something akin to gratitude curls in Andrew’s chest at the sound of that. Not because he was having second thoughts about keeping the dog, but that Neil would spare him the inevitable ire the others will give him over keeping his word. That Neil had listened to his no once again.

            Andrew can feel the thump of Monster’s tail against the bed as she woofs happily. Neil chuckles softly and sets her down. “I’ll take that as a yes. Give me a minute and we’ll go.”

            Another excited woof and Andrew could hear the sound of claws tapping against the wood towards the door. Instead of getting up from the bed like Andrew expected, Neil shifts to face him.

            “Hey,” he says softly. “You awake?”

            Andrew cracks open an eye and stares up at Neil. The small smile that greets him is blinding.

            “Good morning.”

            Andrew grunts.

            “Always a morning person I see,” Neil smirks. “I’m going for a run okay? I’ll grab something on the way back for breakfast.”

            “Whatever,” Andrew grumbles, voice still rough and scratchy from sleep.

            Neil leans down, brushing their noses together ever so slightly. “Yes or no?”

            Andrew doesn’t bother answering, surging forward to close the space between their lips. When Neil’s smile threatens to ruin the kiss, Andrew pulls away and shoves at his junkie’s face.

            “Go run now, little rabbit. And try not to pick up any strays on the way back this time.”

            Neil snorts, pressing a kiss to the tips of Andrew’s fingers. “No promises.”

            Andrew levels him with an unimpressed glare. “112%”

            “Yeah yeah. Back in a bit.”

            Another kiss and Neil’s gone, the sheets still warm from his body but quickly cooling under his touch. Andrew tries not to think of it as he falls back asleep.

 

* * *

 

            What wakes him up later is not the smell of breakfast not the gentle lilt of Neil’s voice like earlier, but rather a cacophony of shouts and banging that has him shooting up from bed and reaching for his knives. Once his fingers wrap around the cool handle of a steel blade, he tears from the room and down the stairs to the living room in complete chaos. At the center — unsurprisingly — is Neil.

            A bloodied and battered Neil.

            Andrew shoves his way to Neil’s side, ignoring Nicky’s yelps and Aaron’s hissed warnings until he could curls a hand around Neil’s neck and shove him down onto the ground along with him. He ignores the pain in his knees and the low growl Monster emits at the sound of Neil’s pained whimper.

            “Who.” He says a word like a demand and a promise. Because whoever laid a hand on Neil was living on borrowed time.

            “Romero.” Neil winces, “He was following me in a car on my run. Tried to shake him but he cut me off near an alley and hit me with his door.”

            His grip tightens around the knife still in his hand. “And then?”

            “And then I tried to fight the bastard from dragging me into the car. I already went on one road trip with the fucker and wasn’t so keen for another.” He tries for a self-deprecating smile. “Was doing pretty good until he got me with a knife in the arm.”

            Andrew’s eyes drop to the arm in question and see his sleep almost entirely stained red. The cut looks deep but not overly damaging. He’ll need stitches for sure and it’ll scar, but otherwise, he’ll live.

            “How did you get away?”

            “Monster.” Andrew raises a brow and waits for Neil to explain. “She bit his ankle and pulled him away enough for me to get out from under him.”

            “Did he get away?”

            Neil’s face goes dark. “No.”

            “ _Good_ ,” something dark and animalistic growls within him.

            “Holy shit, Neil,” Nick wheezes, “We can’t leave you alone for a second without someone trying to kidnap you.”

            “For the record, it’s been a solid 6 months since the last attempt.” Neil quips.

            It’s the wrong thing to say. “No more running by yourself.”

            “What, you’re going to run with me now?” Neil arches a brow. “Fat chance of that happening.”

            “No,” Andrew replies calmly. “You’re going to take Kevin with you.”

            Neil snorts, “He’ll never get up.”

            Andrew ignores him. “You’re going to take Kevin with you _until_ Monster’s big enough to do more than bite an ankle.”

            Neil’s eyes widen, “You don’t mean-”

            “Unfortunately,” Andrew sighs. “You can keep the damn dog.”

            He figures he owns the mutt after it saved Neil (he doesn’t even want to think of what would have happened if Neil were alone and couldn’t fend off Romero — if he was taken once more without Andrew every having known what happened to him). It definitely didn’t have to do with the way Neil’s face broke into a smile or how Monster seemed to understand his words just as clearly as the rest of his family did.

            Well, at least not entirely.

**Author's Note:**

> You can pry cuddly!Andrew and slightly softer Andreil from my cold dead fingers.


End file.
